Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is the third game in AlphaDream’s series and the second on Nintendo DS. Unlike its two predecessors it was released in Japan first, on 11 February 2009, under the title Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!!. North America followed on 14 September, Europe on 9 October and Australia on 22 October 2009, with a Korean edition in July 2011.

The set-up is one of the best in any Mario game. A disease called the blorbs is turning Toads into helpless, rolling balloons, and Princess Peach has called a crisis meeting at the castle. Bowser gatecrashes it, is thrown out by Mario, and lands in a forest where a hooded pedlar offers him a “Lucky Mushroom”. The pedlar is Fawful and the mushroom is a Vacuum Shroom. Bowser storms back to the castle and inhales the entire meeting. He then passes out, Fawful helps himself to both castles, and the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom wake up somewhere dark and squishy.

What makes it work is that you play both sides. Bowser, shown from above on the top screen, has his own adventure, his own battles with punches and fire breath, and no idea that anyone is inside him. Mario and Luigi, shown side-on on the touch screen, treat his body as a world of its own, and whatever they do in there changes what he can do out here: work his arm muscles and he can drag an island ashore, clear his Flame Pipe and he can breathe fire again, shock his tail and he swells to the size of a castle. The only one who knows the whole picture is Starlow, a Star Sprite who talks to Bowser from inside, calling herself “Chippy”.

Critics adored it. It has the joint-highest Metacritic average in the series at 90, level with Superstar Saga; Nintendo Power called it the best Mario RPG ever made, and it outsold both earlier games put together. AlphaDream remade it for Nintendo 3DS in 2018 as Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey, the last game the studio completed before it went bankrupt.

“Did someone just page the King of Awesome?”

The Mushroom Kingdom Tribune, a promotional newspaper e-mailed out by Nintendo for the game’s launch (2009), as recorded by Super Mario Wiki.

Bowser’s contribution to “Reviews from the Mushroom Kingdom”, a column of quotations from the cast. Fawful’s read “I have chortles!” and Midbus offered only the name of his favourite iron ball.

The questions people ask most about Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, answered briefly here and in depth further down the page.

The plot of Bowser’s Inside Story is a farce with three leads who are almost never in the same room. Fawful has a plan, Bowser has a grudge, and Mario and Luigi have a problem, which is that they are inside Bowser. The fun is in watching the three stories knock into one another. Here is the whole thing, spoilers and all.

Two pieces of background. The blorbs are a disease that makes Toads swell up and roll about helplessly; they come from Blorb Mushrooms that Fawful has been selling. And the Dark Star is an evil artefact that was dug up by Toad archaeologists long ago, ran riot, and was sealed beneath Toad Town by the Star Sprites, behind a lock that only Princess Peach can open.

The blorbs and the Lucky Mushroom

With blorbed Toads rolling through the streets, Princess Peach calls an emergency meeting at her castle. Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth, Toadbert and a Star Sprite representative called Starlow are all there when Bowser bursts in, having heard about the meeting and taken offence. Mario sees him off in a short fight and he is blasted out of the building.

He comes down in Dimble Wood, where a cloaked merchant has set up shop. The merchant is Fawful, and what he hands over is a Vacuum Shroom, sold as a “Lucky Mushroom”. One bite and Bowser cannot stop inhaling. He marches back to the castle and swallows the meeting whole: Peach, the brothers, Starlow, Toadsworth and a hall full of Toads.

Inside Bowser: the Trash Pit and Cavi Cape

Mario, Luigi and Starlow come to in the Trash Pit, which is as far down Bowser’s digestive system as it is polite to go. They find a pair of hammers, fight their first enemies, and discover an exposed nerve, the Funny Bone. Bowser himself is out cold; he has been dumped in a cave at Cavi Cape. A good whack on the Funny Bone wakes him up.

Fawful appears just long enough to explain that the blorbs and the mushroom were both part of his plan to take the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser’s Castle with it, and to introduce his muscle: Midbus, a huge, slow-witted brute. Bowser, still weak from the Vacuum Shroom, loses the fight. From here on Starlow speaks to him from inside, taking care never to mention who is in there with her. Before long she gives him a false name: Chippy.

Plack Beach: Broque Monsieur and the Pump Works

On the shore Bowser finds Broque Monsieur, a talking block with a magnificent French accent, marooned on an islet. With the brothers heaving away in his Arm Center, Bowser drags the whole island to the beach, and Broque rewards him with the Vacuum Block, which puts the inhaling under his control.

A stone Sea Pipe Statue blocks the way until Bowser breaks it and takes a long drink. The water floods the Pump Works inside him, letting the brothers reach the Flame Pipe, where a Scutlet is plugging the works. Once it is beaten Bowser can breathe fire again. He celebrates by bringing Broque’s runaway dog, Broggy, to heel.

Dimble Wood: a carrot, a cannon and a falling castle

Back in the forest Bowser meets three of his own men: Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy and Corporal Paraplonk, who have a Banzai Bill cannon pointed at the occupied castle and nothing to fire from it. Bowser tries to requisition a giant carrot from a Wiggler. The Wiggler makes him eat it (the brothers help it down in the Gut Check), loses its temper anyway, and after a fight gives up a real Banzai Bill.

The carrot had a passenger. A parasite called Durmite has come in with it and gives Bowser stomach ache until Mario and Luigi chase it out of his Nerve Cluster. Then the cannon fires, the castle simply lifts off the ground to dodge, and Midbus drops it on Bowser’s head.

This is the first trip to the Rump Command. A jolt of adrenaline brings Bowser back at castle size, and he batters his own home until it flies off. He chases it over Bumpsy Plains and Bowser Path, until he bats Midbus’s giant iron ball straight back and brings it down.

Fawful Theater and the Flab Zone

Inside, the castle has been redecorated as Fawful Theater and most of Bowser’s troops brainwashed into an adoring audience. Bowser is tricked on stage for a cage match with Midbus and wins it. His prize is a banquet: he is force-fed Fawful’s fattening food until he is too heavy to move, and he crashes through the floor and sticks there.

The brothers go exploring in the new Flab Zone, learn the Spin Jump, beat the Kretins that live there and find Princess Peach at last. She tells them about the Dark Star, and that this is what Fawful has wanted all along. Fawful then uses a laser to pull Peach out of Bowser, and he and Midbus carry her off.

Bowser, meanwhile, drops on to a treadmill that Midbus has put in the basement. He runs off the weight, sets fire to a crate of Bob-ombs in the process, and is blown down a hole into a tunnel under Cavi Cape.

Under Toad Town: the Dark Star is taken

In the tunnel Bowser falls in with the Monty Bros. and helps them drill through to Toad Town, straight into the corridor that leads to the Dark Star. Its security system electrocutes him and he passes out again. The brothers, meanwhile, have found the Pipe Yard. They climb out through a Warp Pipe and are outside Bowser for the first time since the opening scene.

They are too late. Fawful has already taken the Dark Star from the Toad Town Caves to Peach’s Castle and thrown a dark barrier across the road. At the Toadley Clinic in the shopping mall, Dr. Toadley explains that three Star Cures will be needed to cure the blorbs and break through. Bowser walks in at this point. He and the brothers have a proper fight, three-way at last, and he loses; but he has heard enough, and sets off to find the cures before they can.

Blubble Lake and the Tower of Yikk

The first Star Cure, Dr. Toadley reveals, is inside Bowser: it belongs to Durmite, the parasite from the carrot, who has gone to ground behind a ghostly barrier in his gut. Bowser’s search takes him to Blubble Lake, where a noseful of pollen and a tremendous sneeze raise the Tower of Yikk out of the water. It promptly falls on him.

Giant Bowser knocks the walking tower back into the lake. Inside he meets the ghost of its inventor, Yikk, and Yikk’s Boo-ray Machine, which shines straight through him. The light dissolves the barrier and turns his Energy Hold into a shifting maze. At its centre the brothers catch Durmite, who reveals herself as the Star Sage Wisdurm, fights them properly, and on losing turns into a butterfly and leaves the red Star Cure behind.

The Fawful Express and the Memory Banks

The second cure has been in Bowser’s treasure chamber all along; Private Goomp admits he stole it from an old Koopa called Kuzzle. Bowser fights his way back into his castle and down to the vault, where the Monty Bros., now working for Fawful, have laid a railway. The Fawful Express comes out of the tunnel and knocks him clean through the wall into a boulder. One more visit to the Rump Command, one more giant battle, one wrecked train.

Then Bowser cannot remember the combination to his own safe. Starlow sends the brothers up to the Memory Banks, where a guardian takes them for viruses and attacks in the shape of blocky copies of Mario and Luigi built from Bowser’s memories of them. With the guardian calmed, a jigsaw puzzle restores the number.

The safe opens. Goomp, Guy and Paraplonk, who have gone over to Fawful, shove their king inside and lock it. In a rage, Bowser swallows the yellow Star Cure. The brothers fish it out of his stomach.

Chakron and the Miracle Cure

Dr. Toadley’s bird Birdley leads the brothers to the last sage: Chakron, who has been holding the same pose on a cliff above Plack Beach for a thousand years and will hand over his cure only to someone who can knock him out of it. He has 9,999 HP and nothing the brothers own will budge him.

His hint sends them back to Dimble Wood for the pieces of a new attack, the Snack Basket. Along the way Mario is carried off by a Sockop, a creature very like Kuribo’s Shoe from Super Mario Bros. 3, and Luigi has to rescue him by climbing inside an unconscious giant one and hopping through enemy territory in it. With the Snack Basket complete, a very full Luigi is dropped on Chakron and over he goes.

Dr. Toadley merges the three Star Cures into the Miracle Cure. Every blorbed Toad in the clinic deflates at once, and the brothers use it to burn through the barriers on the road to Peach’s Castle.

Peach’s Castle: the Dark Star wakes

In the castle garden Midbus sets a remote-controlled rubbish robot, Junker, on the brothers. They beat it, it runs amok, and one of the things it throws on to the scrap heap is a certain safe, which bursts open. Bowser climbs out with his back locked solid. A session in the Lumbar Nook sorts that out and he smashes his way into the castle.

He arrives as Fawful and Midbus are waking the Dark Star with power drawn from Peach. Fawful pumps Midbus up into Blizzard Midbus; Bowser beats him and is frozen stiff for his trouble. He thaws in time to punch Fawful in mid-ritual, so that only part of the Dark Star’s power goes into Fawful. The Dark Star itself dives down Bowser’s throat.

Mario and Luigi chase it through his frozen Airway and fight it there, but not before it has copied what it came for. It bursts back out wearing a shadowy, unfinished version of Bowser’s body. Dark Bowser takes Peach and goes looking for the rest of its power.

Dark Bowser, the last laugh and a cake

Fawful’s final trick is to turn Peach’s Castle itself into a robot, Super Peach’s Castle of Fury, for the fourth and best giant battle. Then comes Dark Fawful, swollen with stolen power. When Bowser beats him he shrinks into a small dark ball, and Dark Bowser sucks him up to make itself whole.

The last fight, on the highest tower under what Bowser calls a “great dark hurricane”, is fought on both screens. Bowser batters Dark Bowser until a punch to the stomach makes it cough up the Fawful-bug, then inhales that himself. Inside him, Mario and Luigi fight the Dark Star Core, Fawful and the star fused together. When the Core bursts, Dark Bowser loses its shape, Bowser lands one more blow, and the Dark Star rises over the castle and explodes.

Fawful has one line left. Battered, he seems to give up, and then blows himself up in the hope of taking the brothers with him. The blast makes Bowser cough up everyone he swallowed in the first scene. Seeing Mario and Luigi tumble out, and learning who “Chippy” really is, Bowser does the only thing he can think of and attacks. The fight plays out under the credits, and he loses.

In the last scene he is in bed in his wrecked castle, bandaged, with his three deserters grovelling. Birdley arrives with a parcel from Peach. It is a cake, iced with the faces of Bowser, Mario, Luigi and the princess, to say thank you.

Every area in Bowser’s Inside Story

There are 35 named areas: 15 in the Mushroom Kingdom, which Bowser (and later the brothers) explore from above, and 20 inside Bowser’s body, seen side-on. Each card shows the in-game map.

1. 
   Peach’s CastleMushroom Kingdom · Bowser (tutorial); later Blizzard Midbus, Dark Fawful, Dark BowserScene of the emergency meeting, then Fawful’s headquarters, then the final battle. Red and green keys open optional rooms.
2. 
   Dimble WoodMushroom Kingdom · Goomba Storm, Snack Basket · Wiggler; giant battle with Bowser’s CastleThe forest where Bowser lands, shops and loses his castle. Sockops and Treevils live here.
3. 
   Cavi CapeMushroom Kingdom · Midbus (first fight)Where Bowser wakes up after the opening, in a cave.
4. 
   Plack BeachMushroom Kingdom · Vacuum Block, Spin Pipe; green Star Cure · Broque Monsieur, Sea Pipe Statue, Broggy, ChakronBroque Monsieur’s island, Kuzzle’s puzzles and, up on the cliff, a sage who has not moved for a millennium.
5. 
   Bumpsy PlainsMushroom KingdomOpen grassland on the way to the castle, patrolled by Flifits and Lakitu Kings.
6. 
   Bowser PathMushroom Kingdom · Shy Guy SquadThe road to Bowser’s front door, now guarded by Chain Chawfuls and Fawful Guys.
7. 
   Bowser’s CastleMushroom Kingdom · Bob-omb Blitz; yellow Star Cure · Midbus; optional ShroobsFawful Theater upstairs, the treasure chamber below, and a cold room with some old enemies on ice.
8. 
   TunnelMushroom Kingdom · Bowser onlyThe Monty Bros.’ diggings under Cavi Cape, leading towards Toad Town.
9. 
   Toad Town CavesMushroom Kingdom · Mario and LuigiWhere the Dark Star was sealed, and the first place the brothers set foot outside Bowser.
10. 
    Toad Town and its shopping mallMushroom Kingdom · Yoo Who Cannon, Mighty Meteor · Bowser (fought by the brothers)The blorb-stricken capital. The mall, open only to the brothers, has the Toadley Clinic, the badge shop and the rank-locked boutiques.
11. 
    Blubble LakeMushroom Kingdom · Koopa CorpsA lake with a tower at the bottom of it, until Bowser sneezes.
12. 
    Tower of YikkMushroom Kingdom · giant battle with the towerA walking machine built by the late inventor Yikk, whose ghost still lives in it.
13. 
    Project KMushroom Kingdom · Bowser only · giant battle with the Fawful ExpressThe railway driven through Bowser’s vault.
14. 
    Peach’s Castle GardenMushroom Kingdom · Falling Star · Junker; giant battle with Super Peach’s Castle of FuryA garden turned scrapyard, patrolled by Mechawfuls.
15. 
    Trash PitInside Bowser · hammers, Green ShellBowser’s colon, and the brothers’ starting point.
16. 
    Funny BoneInside BowserA sensitive spot in the spine. Hit it to wake Bowser up.
17. 
    Toad SquareInside Bowser · shopsWhere the swallowed Toads have gathered their salvage and opened for business.
18. 
    Challenge NodeInside Bowser · optional · the seven X bossesThe spleen: the Gauntlet, the Cholesteroad and the 99 Block.
19. 
    Arm CenterInside Bowser · minigameStimulate the arm muscles to give Bowser strength for pulling and punching.
20. 
    Pump WorksInside Bowser · Fire FlowerPart of the gullet. It floods whenever Bowser drinks; Toadsworth is found here.
21. 
    Flame PipeInside Bowser · ScutletThe source of the fire breath, blocked until its boss is cleared.
22. 
    Gut CheckInside Bowser · minigame; yellow Star CureThe stomach, where a giant carrot and later a Star Cure have to be dealt with.
23. 
    Nerve ClusterInside Bowser · Sliding Haymaker · DurmiteElbow nerves. Toadbert turns up here.
24. 
    Rump CommandInside Bowser · minigameThe tail. A shooting game here revives a flattened Bowser and makes him giant.
25. 
    Flab ZoneInside Bowser · Spin Jump, Jump Helmet · KretinAppears when Bowser is overfed. Peach is found, and lost, here.
26. 
    Pipe YardInside Bowser · exitsThe ear, full of the Warp Pipes Bowser inhaled. The way out.
27. 
    Leg OutpostInside Bowser · minigameThigh muscles, worked when Bowser has something heavy to push.
28. 
    Nose DeckInside Bowser · minigameProvoke a sneeze when Bowser breathes in pollen.
29. 
    Energy HoldInside Bowser · Super Bouncer, Star Panels; red Star Cure · WisdurmThe liver, turned into a moving maze by the Boo-ray Machine.
30. 
    Joint TowerInside Bowser · body slamWhere leg meets hip. Unlocks Bowser’s ground-pound.
31. 
    Memory BanksInside Bowser · Bowser Memory M and LThe brain, with a guardian and a jigsaw puzzle of the safe combination.
32. 
    Lumbar NookInside Bowser · Spike BallThe lower back. Curing its ache teaches Bowser to roll up.
33. 
    Chest StationInside Bowser · minigameTendons that are stretched and released to fling Bowser about.
34. 
    AirwayInside Bowser · Dark StarWindpipe and lungs, frozen solid by Blizzard Midbus. The last area in the game.

Toad Town and its shopping mall share one map and one card here, which is why 34 cards cover 35 areas. Bowser moves between regions by Chakroad; the brothers come and go through the Pipe Yard.

Bowser’s Inside Story is two games stacked on top of each other, joined by a windpipe. One is a top-down adventure starring a very large Koopa; the other is a side-scrolling platformer set in his organs. You flip between them constantly, and most of the best puzzles need both.

Two heroes, two screens

Bowser lives on the top screen. He walks the overworld (beach, forest, plains, lake, two castles), punches with X and breathes fire with Y. Mario and Luigi live on the touch screen, inside him, in flat side-on areas where A jumps Mario and B jumps Luigi exactly as in the earlier games. Each party has its own level, its own gear and its own battles.

The link between them is Bowser’s body. When he strains to shift something heavy, the view drops into the Arm Center or the Leg Outpost and the brothers have to stimulate the muscle. When he drinks from a fountain, the Pump Works floods and new routes open. When he swallows something he should not have, it lands in the Gut Check for the brothers to deal with. Later on the brothers find the Pipe Yard, a cluster of Warp Pipes in his ear that lets them climb out and explore the Mushroom Kingdom on foot, at which point all three characters can be in the same place at once.

Starlow keeps it all organised. Her star menu replaces the suitcase of the earlier games, and it is she who talks Bowser into co-operating whenever the plan needs him to do something.

Bowser’s battles

Bowser fights alone and hits hard. Punch takes the place of the brothers’ jump and Flame the place of their hammer. On defence he can punch an incoming enemy away or cover up with his spiked shell, which also punishes anything that tries to land on his head. He eats Drumsticks rather than Mushrooms.

Once Broque Monsieur gives him the Vacuum Block he can inhale in battle. Small enemies are sucked straight down his throat, where Mario and Luigi are waiting to finish them off on the bottom screen; larger ones lose a piece instead, which may restore his health, raise his attack or defence, or shake loose a Blitty.

His Special Attacks are his army. Each time Bowser frees a caged squad of minions he gains a stylus-driven team move (the 3DS remake names these Brawl Attacks): setting Goombas alight and stampeding them, being hauled back like a catapult by Shy Guys, batting Koopa shells, steering a line of Bob-ombs.

Mario and Luigi’s battles

The brothers have six commands: Jump, Hammer, Special Attack, Item, Bros. Badge and Flee. Jumps and hammer blows are now graded on your timing, from Good up to Excellent, and a well-timed jump bounces a second time. Hammers arrive almost at once, in the Trash Pit, and no longer lose their heads if you hold a guard too long.

Good timing also charges the Bros. Badge gauge at the bottom of the screen, which fills from both ends as each brother lands action commands. When the halves meet you can cash it in. Mario’s badge decides what you get (health, a power boost, extra coins and experience, or SP) and Luigi’s decides how good your timing has to be and how big the pay-off is.

Special Attacks replace the Bros. Items of Partners in Time. Each is learned by finding all of its Attack Pieces, usually scattered through one area, and costs Special Points to use; SP is topped up with Syrup Jars. Several old favourites return, including the Green Shell and Fire Flower.

Everyone has HP, SP, POW, DEF and SPEED. The brothers’ luck stat is still STACHE; Bowser’s equivalent is HORN. Luck raises the odds of a lucky hit for one and a half times the damage, and improves the Scratch Cards that shops hand out with every purchase, which can win back part of what you spent.

Giant battles

Several times in the story Bowser is crushed or knocked flat by something enormous. Each time the brothers rush to the Rump Command, in his tail, and play a short shooting game to pump him full of adrenaline. He comes round the size of a mountain.

For these fights you turn the DS on its side and hold it like a book. Slide the stylus across the screen to throw a punch, blow into the microphone to breathe fire, and tap to counter when the enemy winds up. Mushrooms that appear mid-fight restore health. In the Iwata Asks interview for Dream Team, the developers recall Shigeru Miyamoto singling out the sideways hold for praise.

The opponents are Bowser’s own castle, the walking Tower of Yikk, the Fawful Express (with Fawful Mountain behind it) and, last and best, Super Peach’s Castle of Fury.

Field moves

Bowser starts with his punch and gets his fire breath back once the Flame Pipe is cleared. Later he gains a dashing punch (the Sliding Haymaker, picked up by the brothers in the Nerve Cluster), a ground-shaking body slam unlocked in the Joint Tower, and the Spike Ball, in which he curls up and rolls, unlocked by fixing his back in the Lumbar Nook. He travels between Chakroads, warp points dotted around the kingdom.

Mario and Luigi have their hammers, and Luigi can once again flatten his brother into Mini-Mario. They learn the Spin Jump and the Drill Bros., which tunnels underground and surfaces under buried beans. There are power-ups lying about for the first time in the series: Mario can fill up with helium at a gas pump and float, carrying Luigi by the ankles, or put on a blue Koopa shell and be batted across gaps by Luigi’s hammer to hit distant switches.

Ranks, gear, beans and shops

Levelling up now earns ranks as well as stats. Mario and Luigi climb from Mushroom rank through Shell (level 6), Flower (12), Shine (18) and Star (25) to Rainbow (40). Shell and Flower each open another gear slot, Shine and Star unlock two exclusive shops in Toad Town, and when both brothers reach Rainbow they receive the Excellent!! badge. Bowser goes from Bronze Boss to Silver (level 10), Gold (20) and Final Boss (40), the last of which comes with the Intruder Fangs.

There is far more to wear than before. The brothers have overalls, socks, gloves, boots and accessories; Bowser has shells, arm bands, rings and fangs. The brothers shop in Toad Square, the market the swallowed Toads have set up inside Bowser, and later in Toad Town’s mall. Bowser buys from Broque Monsieur’s and Broggy’s shops in Dimble Wood and from Shop Blocks out in the field.

Beans are back as permanent stat boosters: Heart Beans, Special Beans and Power Beans add a point of HP, SP or POW. Super Mario Wiki counts 251 of them, dug up with the Drill Bros. both inside and outside Bowser or won from the puzzle-setter Kuzzle and the PR Toad in the mall.

The Challenge Node

Tucked into Bowser’s spleen is an optional area with three tests, among them the series’ first boss refights. The Gauntlet, which opens after Durmite is beaten, lets Mario and Luigi refight bosses in tougher “X” forms for coin prizes, ending with Bowser X, who can only be challenged after the other six in a row. The Cholesteroad, open after the Scutlet fight, turns each Special Attack into an endurance test that lasts until you slip. And the 99 Block challenges you to keep a rally of 99 hits going; manage it and you may double your coins, once.

Version differences

This was the first Mario & Luigi game to be released in Japan before anywhere else, and the first whose English differs by region: the European version has its own UK English text, credited to Zakir Rahman, distinct from Nintendo of America’s. North America also received French and Spanish for the first time, in Canadian French and Latin American Spanish translations separate from the European ones. Super Mario Wiki calls it the first handheld Mario game Nintendo of America localised into languages other than English.

Other differences are cosmetic. The American box matches the Japanese one, while the European box rearranges the same artwork around the age-rating badges, with Luigi’s and Bowser’s eyes redrawn to suit. The Cutting Room Floor notes different fonts, cursor positions and menu tab orders between regions, and that an empty save reads “NO DATA” in Japan and “NEW FILE” elsewhere. The Korean edition of 2011 has its copyright date amended. What the 3DS remake changed is covered under Legacy.

Special Attacks, badges and items

All sixteen Special Attacks, all eight Bros. Badges, the consumables and the key items. SP costs and locations follow Super Mario Wiki’s tables for the DS game.

• 
  Goomba StormBowser. 6 SP. Tap each Goomba as it runs past to set it alight. Can burn. Earned in Dimble Wood by freeing the Goombas.
• 
  Shy Guy SquadBowser. 8 SP. Slide the stylus left again and again so the Shy Guys haul Bowser back before letting fly. Bowser Path.
• 
  Koopa CorpsBowser. 10 SP. Slide Bowser up and down to bat Koopa shells back at random targets. Blubble Lake.
• 
  Bob-omb BlitzBowser. 12 SP. Drag the Bob-ombs into line with the enemy, then charge. Can dizzy. Bowser’s Castle.
• 
  Magikoopa MobBowser. 15 SP. Trace the Magikoopas’ formation as fast as you can. Can burn. Peach’s Castle.
• 
  Broggy BonkerBowser. 20 SP. Scrub Broggy clean with the stylus and he does the rest. Can dizzy. The reward for finding all fifteen Blitties.
• 
  Green ShellBrothers. 3 SP. Kick it back and forth, Mario with A and Luigi with B. Learned in the Trash Pit.
• 
  Fire FlowerBrothers. 4 SP. Hammer the button of whichever brother is holding the big fireball. Can burn. Pump Works.
• 
  Jump HelmetBrothers. 6 SP. Land on the helmet and jump with A, steering to each landing spot with the Control Pad. Flab Zone.
• 
  Yoo Who CannonBrothers. 7 SP. Remember which barrel each brother is in, then fire Mario with A and Luigi with B. Toad Town.
• 
  Super BouncerBrothers. 7 SP. Launch off a giant ball, keep Luigi on top of it and squash with B. Can dizzy. Energy Hold.
• 
  Mighty MeteorBrothers. 8 SP. Dash into position, hold A or B to build power and release to swing. Lowers POW. A gift from Dr. Toadley’s intern once the Miracle Cure is made.
• 
  Spin PipeBrothers. 10 SP. Memorise the order in which the brothers stack up, then stomp with the right button. Can dizzy. Plack Beach, for solving Kuzzle’s first puzzle.
• 
  Snack BasketBrothers. 14 SP. Luigi eats until he is enormous, and Mario throws him on to every enemy on the ground. Dimble Wood. The move that finally shifts Chakron.
• 
  Magic WindowBrothers. 18 SP. Mario stomps with A, Luigi with B, then both together. Can dizzy. The prize for beating the Shroobs in Bowser’s Castle.
• 
  Falling StarBrothers. 20 SP. Throw star pieces at a big star, A when its light is red and B when it is green. Lowers DEF. Peach’s Castle Garden.
• 
  Mushroom BadgeMario’s effect badge, from Princess Lipid. A full gauge restores HP: 20% with the Good Badge, up to 100% with Excellent!!.
• 
  Powerful BadgeEffect badge, 2,000 coins. Boosts the next attack by 1.2 to 4 times.
• 
  Bonus BadgeEffect badge, 500 coins. More coins from the battle, and more experience with the Excellent badges.
• 
  Bro BadgeEffect badge, 1,000 coins. Restores SP, from 20% up to all of it.
• 
  Good BadgeLuigi’s rating badge, from Princess Lipid. Any Good or better fills the gauge; the smallest pay-off.
• 
  Great BadgeRating badge, 500 coins. Needs Great timing; a bigger pay-off.
• 
  Excellent! BadgeRating badge, 1,000 coins. Needs Excellent timing. With the Mushroom Badge it also cures status problems.
• 
  Excellent!! BadgeThe reward for getting both brothers to Rainbow rank. Anything less than Excellent empties the gauge, but the effects are the biggest going: a full heal, four times the power, twice the coins.
• 
  Mushroom, Super, Ultra and Max MushroomRestore 30, 60, 120 or 240 HP to one brother.
• 
  Nut, Super, Ultra and Max NutRestore 20, 40, 80 or 160 HP to both brothers.
• 
  Hot, Fiery and TNT DrumstickBowser’s healing items: 80, 150 or 280 HP.
• 
  Syrup Jar, Supersyrup, Ultrasyrup and Max Syrup JarRestore 10, 20, 30 or 40 SP.
• 
  Star CandyRestores all HP and SP.
• 
  1-Up Mushroom and 1-Up DeluxeRevive a fallen brother with half or full HP.
• 
  Refreshing HerbCures status effects.
• 
  Retry ClockLets you start a lost battle again. The first comes from Broque Monsieur.
• 
  Heart, Special and Power BeansPermanently add 1 HP, 1 SP or 1 POW to whoever eats them.
• 
  Vacuum ShroomFawful’s “Lucky Mushroom”. It makes Bowser inhale anything in front of him.
• 
  Vacuum BlockBroque Monsieur’s reward. It gives Bowser control of his inhaling, in and out of battle.
• 
  Banzai BillAmmunition for the minions’ cannon in Dimble Wood, won from a furious Wiggler.
• 
  The three Star CuresRed (from Wisdurm in the Energy Hold), yellow (from Bowser’s own safe, by way of his stomach) and green (from Chakron above Plack Beach).
• 
  Miracle CureAll three Star Cures combined by Dr. Toadley. It cures the blorbs and burns away the Dark Star’s barriers.
• 
  BlittiesFifteen little creatures (“Blockats” in Japanese) that Broque Monsieur wants found. They are shaken out of enemies with the Vacuum Block.
• 
  Stingler, Star Panels and the castle keysOther tools of the trade: a shock-giver found in the Pump Works, shaped panels made in the Energy Hold, and blue, red and green keys for the doors of Peach’s Castle.

Nintendo promoted Bowser’s Inside Story more heavily than either earlier game, and it has been echoed in every Mario & Luigi title since.

The Mushroom Kingdom TribunePromotional e-mail newspaper · 2009A spoof newspaper sent out by Nintendo, with “Reviews from the Mushroom Kingdom” supplied by Fawful, Bowser and Midbus.

Prima’s Official Game GuideGuide bookThe English-language strategy guide, from Prima Games.

Tomy stylus setMerchandiseA set of character styluses made by Tomy.

Website word searchPromotionA printable puzzle from the game’s official site.

Nintendo DSi bundleNorth America · 25 April 2010A white Nintendo DSi sold with a copy of the game for $169.99.

Super Mario-kunManga · volume 41Yukio Sawada’s long-running comic reached the blorbs in its forty-first volume.

Mario & Luigi: Dream TeamNintendo 3DS · 2013Starlow, Broque Monsieur, Broque Madame, Broggy and the Goomp-Guy-Paraplonk trio all return. Bowser still punches, still rolls into a Spike Ball, and still shouts “SHOWTIME!” before his giant battle.

Super Smash Bros.Wii U and UltimateTwo tracks, “Tough Guy Alert!” and “The Grand Finale”, are in both games. Ultimate adds Fawful, Starlow and Broque Monsieur as spirits.

Nintendo Badge ArcadeNintendo 3DSThe Pixel Collection includes a badge of the game card.

Superstar Saga + Bowser’s MinionsNintendo 3DS · 2017Dr. Toadley replaces Psycho Kamek as Little Fungitown’s hypnotist, and Broque Monsieur appears on a film poster.

Mario & Luigi: BrothershipNintendo Switch · 2024The Jump Helmet and Yoo Who Cannon come back as Bros. Attacks, Bowser is still calling Starlow “Chippy”, and one of the reefs is shaped like Broque Monsieur.

A small central cast, drawn larger than life. Bowser has never had so many lines, Fawful never so much power, and the newcomers (Starlow, Midbus, Broque Monsieur and his dog) were good enough to be invited back.

Character	Who they are	In this game	Abilities & notes
MarioThe A Button	Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, currently residing in his arch-enemy.	Beats Bowser in the opening minutes, is swallowed, and spends most of the game keeping him alive from within. Out in the world he is the one who puts on the blue shell and fills up with helium.	Ranks: Mushroom to Rainbow (level 40) His badge sets the Bros. Badge effect Field: hammer, Spin Jump, Drill Bros., Mini-Mario, balloon and Blue Shell forms
LuigiThe B Button	Mario’s brother and partner in everything.	Partners Mario throughout, rescues him from the Sockops in a borrowed shoe, and is the business end of the Snack Basket.	His badge sets the timing needed for the Bros. Badge Field: hammer, Spin Jump, Drill Bros.
BowserKing of Awesome	King of the Koopas, and for once the lead.	Tricked, evicted, overfed, electrocuted, locked in his own safe and frozen, he nevertheless takes back his castle and saves the Mushroom Kingdom, without ever meaning to help anyone but himself.	Attacks: Punch (X), Flame (Y), Vacuum Luck stat: HORN Ranks: Bronze Boss to Final Boss (level 40) As a boss: 20 HP in the tutorial; 1,215 HP at the clinic Voiced by Kenny James
StarlowAlso known as Chippy	A Star Sprite, making her first appearance. Super Mario Wiki compares her role to Stuffwell’s in the previous game.	Guide, menu and go-between. She gives the brothers hints, carries their things and talks to Bowser from inside, under a false name so that he never suspects the brothers are in there.	Returns in Dream Team, Paper Jam and Brothership A spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Princess PeachThe key to the Dark Star	Ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.	Swallowed with everyone else and found in the Flab Zone. Fawful extracts her because only she can break the Dark Star’s seal. At the end she sends Bowser a cake.	Voiced by Samantha Kelly
FawfulHe has chortles	The Beanish inventor from Superstar Saga, last seen selling badges in a sewer in Partners in Time. His minions call him Lord Fawful.	Spreads the blorbs, feeds Bowser the Vacuum Shroom, takes both castles, wakes the Dark Star and absorbs part of it. As Dark Fawful he is Bowser’s last boss but one; as part of the Dark Star Core he is Mario and Luigi’s last.	Dark Fawful: 1,736 HP, plus a Vacuum Helmet with 1,200 Dark Star Core: 1,560 HP, glasses 250, appendages 156
MidbusThe mid-boss	Fawful’s chief minion: a hulking cross between a boar and an armadillo, built to match Bowser. His name is “mid-boss” respelled.	Beats Bowser at Cavi Cape, drops a castle on him, loses to him in the cage match, builds Junker, and is finally turned into Blizzard Midbus, in which form he ends the game frozen in a block of ice.	HP by fight: 95, 950 and, as Blizzard Midbus, 2,041 Japanese name: Metaboss
The Dark Star and Dark BowserThe real threat	A sentient artefact of dark power, sealed under Toad Town by the Star Sprites.	Woken by Fawful, it forces its way into Bowser, copies him and emerges as Dark Bowser. Once it has swallowed Fawful it is complete, and has to be beaten from outside and inside at once.	Dark Star (in the Airway): 1,248 HP Dark Bowser: 1,000 HP
ToadsworthPeach’s steward	The princess’s elderly retainer.	At the meeting, swallowed with the rest, and rescued by the brothers in the Pump Works.	Found at: Pump Works
ToadbertBy boogity	The bespectacled Toad from Partners in Time.	Briefs the meeting on the blorbs, turns up again in the Nerve Cluster, and afterwards scouts ahead and runs a hint booth in Toad Square.	Found at: Nerve Cluster; Toad Square
Dr. Toadley and BirdleyThe Toadley Clinic	The doctor who runs the clinic in Toad Town’s shopping mall, and his messenger bird.	Diagnoses “Bowseritis”, explains the Star Cures, sends Birdley to guide the brothers to Chakron and mixes the Miracle Cure. Birdley later delivers the cake.	His intern hands over the Mighty Meteor Reappears in the Superstar Saga remake
Broque MonsieurMonsieur Turtle Bits’s shopkeeper	A block-shaped gentleman with a thick French accent, named after the croque monsieur. In Japan he is Brirock.	Gives Bowser the Vacuum Block and a Retry Clock, teaches him to fight with it, runs his shop in Dimble Wood and sets the Blitty hunt. He will not serve Mario and Luigi, because they break blocks.	Tutorial boss: 158 HP Returns in Dream Team; a spirit in Smash Ultimate
BroggyA block of a dog	Broque Monsieur’s dog.	Fought and tamed at Plack Beach. Collect all fifteen Blitties and he joins Bowser’s arsenal as the Broggy Bonker. He has a shop of his own in Dimble Wood.	Boss: 198 HP Broggy Bonker: 20 SP
Broque MadameBroque Monsieur’s old flame	Another of the block people, and his former partner.	A side character with stories to tell, including her memories of the Shroob invasion from Partners in Time.	Returns in Dream Team
Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy and Corporal ParaplonkBowser’s loyal troops, briefly	A Goomba, a Shy Guy and a Paratroopa: three of Bowser’s soldiers who are still on his side when he finds them.	Man the Banzai Bill cannon in Dimble Wood, own up about the stolen Star Cure, and then change sides and lock their king in his own safe. They are back at his bedside, apologising, in the epilogue.	Return in Dream Team
Durmite / WisdurmFirst of the Star Sages	A parasite that rides into Bowser on a carrot, later revealed as a sage in disguise.	Fought twice, in the Nerve Cluster and the Energy Hold. Beaten the second time, she becomes a butterfly and leaves the red Star Cure.	Durmite: 326 HP Wisdurm: 1,610 HP
ChakronThe sage who will not move	A Star Sage who has held one yoga pose on a cliff for a thousand years.	Holds the green Star Cure and will give it to anyone who can tip him over. His battle cannot be won by damage; it ends by itself after a few turns.	9,999 HP Beaten with the Snack Basket
KuzzleThe puzzle-maker	An old Koopa living at Plack Beach.	The original owner of the Star Cure in Bowser’s safe, which Private Goomp stole from him. Bring him Puzzle Sacks and he hands out beans for solving them; finishing his first puzzle earns the Spin Pipe.	Reward for puzzle 1: Spin Pipe
YikkInventor, deceased	The ghost of the genius who built the Tower of Yikk.	Greets Bowser inside his tower and demonstrates the Boo-ray Machine, whose light is what opens up the Energy Hold.	Found at: Tower of Yikk
The EmoglobinsBowser’s cells	Inhabitants of Bowser’s body.	Offer hints, help with the minigames and announce each new test in the Challenge Node. Their relatives include Liftoglobins, Nutsoglobins and Totemglobins.	Found: throughout Bowser’s body
Princess LipidGiver of badges	A minor character met early on.	Hands the brothers their first two Bros. Badges, Mushroom and Good.	Gives: Mushroom Badge, Good Badge
The ShroobsOn ice	The alien invaders of Partners in Time.	Three of them are kept frozen in Bowser’s Castle and can be thawed for an optional fight. Afterwards the brothers tell Starlow how they beat them as babies.	Three Shroobs, 500 HP each Reward: Magic Window

Bosses & enemies

Every boss in story order, with the four giant battles in their places, then the seven Gauntlet bosses, then every regular enemy: Bowser’s first, followed by those that only Mario and Luigi meet. HP figures are from Super Mario Wiki’s tables for the DS game.

• 
  Bowser (boss)Peach’s Castle20 HP once the tutorial is done. Mario fights him alone.
• 
  Midbus (boss)Cavi Cape95 HP. Bowser’s tutorial fight, which ends by itself after a few turns.
• 
  Broque Monsieur (boss)Plack Beach158 HP. A lesson in the Vacuum Block; he fights with items from ? Blocks, the odd Mega Mushroom included.
• 
  Sea Pipe Statue (boss)Plack Beach320 HP. Beaten with help from the Vacuum Block.
• 
  Scutlet (boss)Flame Pipe280 HP. Mario and Luigi. Blocks Bowser’s fire.
• 
  Broggy (boss)Plack Beach198 HP. Bowser. Broque Monsieur’s dog.
• 
  Wiggler (boss)Dimble Wood540 HP. Bowser. Throws turnips and calls in Leaf Guys.
• 
  Durmite (boss)Nerve Cluster326 HP, with a 16 HP straw. Mario and Luigi. Summons Biffiduses.
• 
  Bowser’s Castle (giant boss)Dimble Wood535 HP. The first giant battle.
• 
  Midbus, cage match (boss)Fawful Theater950 HP. Bowser, on stage.
• 
  Alpha and Beta Kretin (boss)Flab ZoneAlpha Kretin is a chain of balls with 20 HP each; Beta Kretin has 385. Mario and Luigi.
• 
  Bowser, at the clinic (boss)Toadley Clinic1,215 HP. The one time the brothers fight their host.
• 
  Tower of Yikk (giant boss)Blubble Lake508 HP. Punch it into the lake, then strike the head.
• 
  Wisdurm (boss)Energy Hold1,610 HP. Mario and Luigi. Durmite’s true form.
• 
  Fawful Express (giant boss)Project K885 HP for the train and 1,049 for Fawful Mountain.
• 
  Bowser Memory M and Bowser Memory L (boss)Memory Banks730 and 845 HP. Blocky copies of the brothers, as Bowser remembers them.
• 
  Chakron (boss)Plack Beach cliff9,999 HP. Not meant to be beaten; the fight ends after a few turns.
• 
  Junker (boss)Peach’s Castle Garden1,445 HP. Mario and Luigi. A rubbish robot that drops buckets on heads and throws Junker Cans.
• 
  Blizzard Midbus (boss)Peach’s Castle2,041 HP. Bowser. Backed by Snawfuls.
• 
  Dark Star (boss)Airway1,248 HP. Mario and Luigi, with Dark Satellmites in orbit. Worth 9,999 EXP.
• 
  Super Peach’s Castle of Fury (giant boss)Peach’s Castle Garden1,488 HP. The last giant battle.
• 
  Dark Fawful (boss)Peach’s Castle1,736 HP, and his Vacuum Helmet has 1,200 of its own. Bowser.
• 
  Dark Bowser (boss)Peach’s Castle1,000 HP. Bowser’s final opponent.
• 
  Dark Star Core (boss)Inside Bowser1,560 HP, glasses 250, appendages 156. Mario and Luigi’s final opponent.
• 
  Shroobs (optional boss)Bowser’s CastleThree, with 500 HP each. Mario and Luigi.
• 
  Durmite X (Gauntlet boss)Challenge Node575 HP. Pays 1,000 coins the first time.
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  Kretin X (Gauntlet boss)Challenge NodeBeta Kretin X has 810 HP; each ball of Alpha has 135. 2,000 coins.
• 
  Wisdurm X (Gauntlet boss)Challenge Node2,380 HP. 4,000 coins.
• 
  Bowser Memory MLX (Gauntlet boss)Challenge Node2,500 and 3,000 HP. 6,000 coins.
• 
  Junker X (Gauntlet boss)Challenge Node3,080 HP. 9,000 coins.
• 
  Dark Star X (Gauntlet boss)Challenge Node4,030 HP. 12,500 coins.
• 
  Bowser X (Gauntlet boss)Challenge Node7,155 HP. Super Mario Wiki calls him the toughest boss in the game; fight the other six in a row to reach him. 25,000 coins.
• 
  ChuboombaCavi Cape; Plack Beach50 HP, 15 EXP.
• 
  ToothyPlack Beach27 HP, 18 EXP. One of its attacks brings in Blue Viruses from Dr. Mario.
• 
  TreevilDimble Wood95 HP, 30 EXP (35 if it is carrying a berry).
• 
  TrashureDimble Wood147 HP, 40 EXP.
• 
  FlifitBumpsy Plains108 HP, 50 EXP.
• 
  SneedBumpsy Plains74 HP, 200 EXP. Inhaled by Bowser and finished off by the brothers.
• 
  Lakitu KingBumpsy Plains90 HP, 35 EXP. Inhaled, then fought inside.
• 
  Chain ChawfulBowser Path165 HP, 75 EXP.
• 
  FawfulcopterBowser Path32 HP, 40 EXP. Inhaled, then fought inside.
• 
  ChoombaTunnel248 HP, 120 EXP. Bowser only.
• 
  CoalbitTunnel34 HP, 40 EXP. Inhaled, then fought inside.
• 
  BeehossBlubble Lake200 HP, 150 EXP.
• 
  CrawfulBlubble Lake173 HP, 170 EXP.
• 
  Glam LakituBlubble Lake208 HP, 47 EXP. Inhaled, then fought inside.
• 
  JailgoonBowser’s Castle183 HP, 340 EXP.
• 
  Sniffle ThwompBowser’s Castle256 HP, 400 EXP.
• 
  MechawfulPeach’s Castle Garden277 HP, 300 EXP. Its head (98 HP) can be inhaled and fought separately.
• 
  Metal Mawful MolePeach’s Castle Garden140 HP, 350 EXP.
• 
  NaplockPeach’s Castle183 HP, 580 EXP. Bowser only.
• 
  Alarm Bob-ombPeach’s Castle123 HP, 170 EXP. Inhaled, then fought inside.
• 
  Dark TrashurePeach’s Castle360 HP, 640 EXP. Bowser only.
• 
  Dark Fawful GuyPeach’s Castle128 HP, 200 EXP. Inhaled, then fought inside.
• 
  Dark Fawful BombPeach’s Castle316 HP, no EXP. Bowser only.
• 
  Dark MechawfulPeach’s Castle280 HP, 800 EXP. Bowser only; its head has 200 HP once inhaled. A “.5” variant has the same stats.
• 
  BorpCavi Cape102 HP, 220 EXP. Mario and Luigi only, like every enemy from here down.
• 
  Drillbit CrabPlack Beach115 HP, 240 EXP.
• 
  PendrilPlack Beach157 HP, 260 EXP.
• 
  ScutletDimble Wood72 HP, 100 EXP. Small relatives of the Flame Pipe boss.
• 
  SockopDimble Wood110 HP, 240 EXP. A living Kuribo’s Shoe; Luigi can ride an unconscious one over spikes.
• 
  Fawful GuyBowser Path172 HP, 240 EXP. Borrows attack patterns from Woozy Guys and Glide Guys of the Yoshi’s Island games.
• 
  NoozToad Town Caves55 HP, 50 EXP. Red and green kinds.
• 
  FawflantToad Town Caves100 HP, 70 EXP.
• 
  FawflopperBlubble Lake96 HP, 200 EXP.
• 
  Mawful MoleBlubble Lake154 HP, 230 EXP.
• 
  MagifoofaBowser’s Castle124 HP, 260 EXP.
• 
  GoombuleTrash Pit; Pump Works8 HP, 3 EXP. Found from the Trash Pit onwards; an Elite Goombule has 16 HP.
• 
  Spike BlopTrash Pit; Pump Works12 HP, 5 EXP.
• 
  Bubble BlooperPump Works23 HP, 15 EXP. Also appears as a Dried Blooper.
• 
  ProtobatterPump Works36 HP, 15 EXP.
• 
  TenderlingFlab Zone45 HP, 30 EXP.
• 
  CaloriteFlab Zone85 HP, 40 EXP.
• 
  NapseEnergy Hold68 HP, 100 EXP.
• 
  POW, DEF and SPEED PepsEnergy Hold105 HP, 120 EXP. Three kinds, one for each stat.
• 
  Piranha PlorpEnergy Hold165 HP, 140 EXP. Name-checked in Palutena’s Guidance in Smash Ultimate.
• 
  PwallopEnergy Hold130 HP, 150 EXP.
• 
  Air CheepAirway236 HP, 600 EXP.
• 
  StonkAirway198 HP, 630 EXP.
• 
  AirnapseAirway150 HP, 610 EXP.
• 
  Air CannonAirway254 HP, 670 EXP.

Key staff

The credits show a studio in transition: the same director and composer, a new lead programmer and a new team of illustrators.

There was no Iwata Asks interview for Bowser’s Inside Story itself, but its makers have looked back on it twice: with Satoru Iwata in 2013, when promoting Dream Team, and with the press in 2019, when the 3DS remake came out.

“A chance to rally”

By the end of Partners in Time the series needed a lift. In the Dream Team interview, Nintendo producer Toshiharu Izuno says that sales had slowed with the second game and that the team planned a comeback. His colleague Akira Otani put it more bluntly: “The third game was a chance to rally.”

The idea of building it around Bowser came from director and writer Hiroyuki Kubota. Otani admits he could not at first see how a Mario & Luigi game with Bowser in it would work, but “when we started thinking about gameplay with Bowser, a lot of interesting ideas came up.” One of them was scale. As Izuno recalls, “The idea of having a giant Bowser arose, and we played with the difference in scale”: microscopic brothers on one screen, a mountain-sized Koopa on the other.

Why inside Bowser?

Field designer Shunsuke Kobayashi filled in the rest for Nintendo Life in 2019. The team’s first thought was simply to make Mario, Luigi and Bowser all playable, but having the three co-operate felt wrong. Putting the brothers inside Bowser solved that: they could help him without his knowing, and what they did in his body could be shown changing the world outside, “which felt like a really good way to use the dual screens of the DS at the time.”

Kouichi Fukazawa, who led the background art, described the balancing act of drawing a villain’s innards for a family game: “we wanted it to be a thorough design of the insides, but not be too disgusting.” Producer Yoshihiko Maekawa explained the logic of the Vacuum Shroom (mushrooms in Mario games are magic and make things change size, so a mushroom could plausibly make Bowser suck people in and shrink them) and said that health became the running theme because it suited both story and play. Hence the blorbs, known in Japan as metakoro, a word built on the slang for being overweight, and hence the yoga-posing sage and the queasy enemies.

Maekawa also revealed that the team modelled its early character concepts in clay, then gave up on the method because it took too long.

From RPG 3!!! to Bowser’s Inside Story

Nintendo announced the game at a press event in Tokyo on 2 October 2008 as Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!!, already showing the plot and the heavy use of the touch screen. Japan got it first, on 11 February 2009, a reversal of the first two games, which had both launched in North America.

The English title was revealed at E3 on 2 June 2009, with a preliminary logo, for release that autumn. North America received it on 14 September (some sources say the 15th), Europe on 9 October and Australia on 22 October. In April 2010 Nintendo of America bundled it with a white Nintendo DSi.

Chortles in five languages

Nate Bihldorff was again among the writers of the English script at Nintendo of America, and Fawful’s lines (“I HAVE CHORTLES!”; “Beef? I am lacking in beef. Fawful is beefless.”) are as quotable as ever. Midbus, whose name is “mid-boss” said quickly, speaks in clipped, mangled sentences that, according to Super Mario Wiki, Bihldorff modelled on a badly dubbed kung-fu film. His Japanese name, Metaboss, is the same pun as the blorbs’: metabo, metabolic syndrome. Broque Monsieur is a block (Brirock in Japan) named after a toasted sandwich.

This was also a first for Nintendo’s translators. The North American cartridge carries Canadian French and Latin American Spanish as well as English, and Europe’s English is a separate British adaptation rather than the American text.

Left in the code

The game data holds the usual scraps: voice clips for Yoshi lifted from Yoshi’s Story (he never appears), a batch of music left over from Partners in Time, graphics for a Blockhopper enemy that was dropped, an early Toad Town fountain showing Peach as a mermaid, and a Japanese debug string suggesting the Blitties were once called “Burineko”. Early screenshots show Treevils being fought on Plack Beach instead of in Dimble Wood. The Cutting Room Floor also documents the game’s anti-piracy measures, which make copied cartridges freeze or refuse to save.

And when it was all over? Kubota told Iwata: “To be honest, when the third one was done, I was like a white sheet of paper.”

Firsts for the series that the sources state outright.

No codes, but plenty of optional extras. Remember that there is no post-game: everything below has to be done before the final battle, or after reloading the save made just before it.

Thaw the Shroobs for the Magic Window

In a cold room in Bowser’s Castle are several frozen Shroobs from Partners in Time. Thaw them and Mario and Luigi face three at once, 500 HP apiece, with other Shroobs, Elder Princess Shroob among them, still iced up in the background. Winning earns the Magic Window, an 18 SP Special Attack.

Find all fifteen Blitties

Broque Monsieur wants his Blitties back. They are shaken out of particular enemies when Bowser uses the Vacuum Block on them. Bring all fifteen to his shop in Dimble Wood and Broggy joins Bowser as the Broggy Bonker, his most expensive Special Attack at 20 SP.

The Gauntlet and Bowser X

The Challenge Node’s Gauntlet opens once Durmite is beaten and offers six X bosses: Durmite X (1,000 coins on the first win), Kretin X (2,000), Wisdurm X (4,000), Bowser Memory MLX (6,000), Junker X (9,000) and Dark Star X (12,500). Beat all six back to back and Bowser X appears, with 7,155 HP and a 25,000-coin purse.

The Cholesteroad and the 99 Block

Next door, the Cholesteroad turns each Special Attack into a test of how long you can keep it going without a mistake. Above both doors is the 99 Block: keep a rally going for 99 hits and you earn the right to double your coins at a moment of your choosing. It works once, so save it for when your wallet is full.

Rank rewards

For the brothers, level 18 (Shine rank) opens the Toadles Boutique in Toad Town and level 25 (Star rank) the Star Shop. Getting both to level 40 (Rainbow rank) earns the Excellent!! badge. Bowser’s reward for level 40 (Final Boss rank) is the Intruder Fangs.

The best badge combinations

With Luigi wearing Excellent!!, a full gauge gives a complete heal and status cure (Mushroom Badge), four times the power on the next attack (Powerful Badge), one and a half times the experience and double the coins (Bonus Badge) or all your SP back (Bro Badge). The catch is that anything short of an Excellent empties the gauge.

Where the missable Special Attacks are

Three of the brothers’ ten attacks (Green Shell, Yoo Who Cannon and Snack Basket) come automatically with the story. The others are worth chasing: the Mighty Meteor is handed over by Dr. Toadley’s intern once the Miracle Cure is made; the Spin Pipe is the prize for Kuzzle’s first puzzle at Plack Beach; the Falling Star pieces are in Peach’s Castle Garden; and the Magic Window comes from the Shroobs.

Beans

There are 251 beans in all. Learn the Drill Bros., tunnel underground and jump up beneath the beanholes, both in the Mushroom Kingdom and inside Bowser. More come from Kuzzle (take him Puzzle Sacks) and from the PR Toad in the mall, who wants Mushroom Balls. A Toad in Toad Town advises you to “Find all you can. They’re a secret to everybody!”

Do not try to out-punch Chakron

The sage has 9,999 HP and his battle ends by itself after a few turns whatever you do. The way past him is the Snack Basket, assembled from Attack Pieces in Dimble Wood.

Scratch Cards and Retry Clocks

Every purchase comes with a Scratch Card that can win back part of the price; the number of winning squares depends on STACHE for the brothers and HORN for Bowser, so luck gear pays for itself. A Retry Clock lets you restart a lost battle. Broque Monsieur gives Bowser the first.

The other two keys

Only the Blue Key is needed to get through the second floor of Peach’s Castle. The Red and Green Keys open optional doors on the same floor.

The debug room

The Cutting Room Floor describes a debug room, built on the generic inside-Bowser background, reached with an Action Replay code while holding B inside Bowser’s body. Its menu warps to places and cutscenes; many entries freeze the game.

The old SLB page had no cheats sub-page for this game; its box art, artwork and screenshot galleries are linked under References below.

Very little goes wrong in normal play. Super Mario Wiki records one harmless slip, and the rest of what is known comes from people prodding the game with cheat devices.

The fire that is not there yet

Before fighting the Scutlet, go back into the Pump Works and use the Save Block. The save message announces that Bowser can breathe fire again, although the Flame Pipe is still blocked.

Bowser X in Europe

The Cutting Room Floor notes an unexplained graphics glitch in the Bowser X fight in the European version, which may also turn up at random in the Shroob battle.

Enemies in the wrong battles

Hack an enemy into a fight it was never meant for and the seams show. Small enemies run away from Bowser; creatures from his insides float out of the brothers’ reach; and bosses such as the Dark Star, Junker and Chakron break, crash or do nothing when Bowser is made to face them. Bowser cannot be made to fight himself.

Unfinished battle transitions

Three unused battle-intro transitions can be triggered by hacking. They are unfinished and scramble the sprites.

The anti-piracy tripwires

Not a bug, but often mistaken for one: on a copied cartridge the game deliberately freezes, shows black screens, soft-locks or refuses to save.

Nintendo’s overview trailer for the 3DS remake (in Japanese, but the pictures tell the story), and a documentary on the series as a whole.

• The Japanese title is Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!!, exclamation marks and all. The remake there is Mario & Luigi RPG 3 DX.
• One brainwashed minion has forgotten what Fawful Theater used to be called and guesses “Mouser’s Castle”, after the boss from Super Mario Bros. 2.

• 

  Sockops are a tribute to Kuribo’s Shoe from Super Mario Bros. 3: Luigi can climb into an unconscious one and walk on spikes. One of them is actually named Kuribo.
• The Toad who teaches bean-digging signs off with “They’re a secret to everybody!”, the Moblin’s line from the first Legend of Zelda.
• According to Super Mario Wiki, this is the first Mario & Luigi game without Professor E. Gadd, and Yoshi does not appear either, although voice clips for him from Yoshi’s Story are sitting unused in the data.
• It is also, by the same account, the only game in the series with no purely snow, desert, mountain or temple area, and the only one whose regular enemies are all new or derived species rather than stock Goombas and Koopas.
• The plot of Bowser trying to win back his own castle echoes Super Mario RPG, and so does his recruitment of “Chippy”, whom he tells she can thank him later.
• The final battle is Superstar Saga turned inside out. There, Mario and Luigi fought Cackletta’s spirit inside Bowser; here they fight her pupil. The statues of Fawful in Bowser’s Castle wear his outfit from that earlier rematch, and a rearrangement of Cackletta’s theme plays once he has taken over Peach’s Castle.
• Junker’s bucket attack, which leaves a brother stumbling about blind, is a nod to Mario & Wario.
• A poster of Blue Viruses from Dr. Mario hangs in Dr. Toadley’s office.
• The Shine rank is named after the Shine Sprites of Super Mario Sunshine, and the blue shell that turns Mario into Shell Mario comes from New Super Mario Bros., as does the Mega Mushroom that Broque Monsieur sometimes pulls out in his tutorial.
• When Peach and Starlow combine their power, Super Mario Wiki reads it as a reference to the Peach Beam from Paper Mario.
• Bowser’s Spike Ball closely resembles an attack he uses in Super Mario Galaxy.
• Of the first three Mario & Luigi games, this is the only one never released on the Wii U Virtual Console.

• 

  The developers sent out a New Year’s card illustrated with the game’s cast.
• Bowser’s battle cry before a giant fight, “SHOWTIME!”, came back in Dream Team, and in Brothership he is still calling Starlow “Chippy”.
• Midbus-themed pig skins were found, unused, in the files of Minecraft: Wii U Edition.
• The 3DS remake arrived outside Japan in January 2019, in time for the game’s tenth anniversary. Super Mario Wiki describes it as the last Mario game released for Nintendo 3DS and the last Mario & Luigi game to feature Charles Martinet as the brothers.
• In the remake the Koopalings turn up in Bowser Jr.’s Journey. Producer Akira Otani told Nintendo Life that they work for Bowser and are not his children, and look after Junior because he is the boss’s son.
• Asked by Game Informer which character from the series should be in Super Smash Bros., Otani chose Starlow. Yoshihiko Maekawa said Fawful, or Broque Madame.
• The same interview raised the obvious question of how two grown plumbers fit inside a Koopa. Otani said the team never worried about it: Mario changes size all the time.

The North American and Japanese boxes use the same layout; Europe’s rearranges the same artwork around the rating badges. The remake covers follow.

More from the Nintendo DS original, then the 3DS remake for comparison.

Official artwork, logos, sprites and promotional odds and ends, from the DS original and the 3DS remake. SLB’s own artwork, box art and screenshot galleries are linked below.

Bowser’s Inside Story is the peak the series is still measured against. It was never ported, but it was the second Mario & Luigi game to be remade, and its remake turned out to be AlphaDream’s farewell.

Releases and re-releases

• Nintendo DS, Japan 11 February 2009As Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!!. Taiwan received it the same day.
• Nintendo DS, North America 14 September 2009With English, Canadian French and Latin American Spanish text.
• Nintendo DS, Europe and Australia October 2009Europe 9 October, Australia 22 October 2009, with a separate UK English script.
• Nintendo DSi bundle 25 April 2010Packed with a white Nintendo DSi in North America at $169.99.
• Nintendo DS, South Korea 21 July 2011Korean-language edition.
• Nintendo 3DS remake, Japan 27 December 2018Mario & Luigi RPG 3 DX.
• Nintendo 3DS remake, worldwide January 2019Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey: North America 11 January, Europe 25 January, Australia 26 January 2019.

The remake: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey

Announced on 8 March 2018 and developed by AlphaDream with help from Arzest, the remake redraws the whole game in the detailed 2D style of the Superstar Saga remake, with lighting and shadows, and renders the giant battles as full 3D models. The music is rearranged and there is a new title theme. Like its predecessor it does not use stereoscopic 3D, and it runs at 30 frames a second where the DS game ran at 60.

Field designer Shunsuke Kobayashi said the team held back from large changes because of what the original meant to people, but tried to fix the parts that had been too hard. In practice that means no microphone (giant Bowser breathes fire with a tap), all three gear slots open from the start, a retry after any defeat instead of Retry Clocks, an Easy mode for the brothers’ attacks, visible enemy levels, bosses that turn red and furious when weak, a fast-forward for cutscenes and giant battles that can be replayed in the Gauntlet. The Special Attacks were renamed (Bros. Attacks for the brothers, Brawl Attacks for Bowser) and repriced, the Shine rank was dropped and Bowser gained a Master Boss rank.

Asked why it was made for 3DS rather than Switch, the developers told Game Informer that the game depends on having two screens.

Bowser Jr.’s Journey

The new side story runs alongside the main plot and can be started at any time. In it Bowser Jr. sets out to find a cure for the blorbs himself, with Kamek and the Koopalings as his lieutenants. Its new faces are the Best Fitness Friends, Dieter, Kaley and Beef, three characters of the same species as Midbus. It plays like the Minion Quest mode of the Superstar Saga remake, with squads of up to nine minions fighting automatically, so that picking and arranging the troops is the game. Akiko Sugimoto, one of the developers, described it as a chance to use ideas that had not fitted into Minion Quest, and to show Bowser Jr. growing up a little.

AlphaDream’s last game

The remake was well reviewed and barely sold. It moved fewer than 9,500 copies in its first week in Japan and about 34,500 there in total. On 1 October 2019 AlphaDream filed for bankruptcy, citing sluggish revenue and high development costs. Commentators have often linked the two.

The series was revived five years later by a different studio. Mario & Luigi: Brothership, developed by Acquire with several former AlphaDream staff in key roles, came out on Nintendo Switch on 7 November 2024.

Where the cast went next

Starlow became the brothers’ permanent sidekick, returning in Dream Team, Paper Jam and Brothership. Broque Monsieur, Broque Madame, Broggy and the Goomp-Guy-Paraplonk trio all came back in Dream Team. Fawful has not been seen since, outside the remakes, but he, Starlow and Broque Monsieur are all spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which also carries two pieces of the soundtrack. The Jump Helmet and the Yoo Who Cannon were dusted off as Bros. Attacks in Brothership. And giant battles became a fixture, returning in Dream Team.

Sales figures

This is the big seller of the series. In Japan it was the best-selling game of its launch week with 193,000 copies, reached 650,000 by the middle of 2009 and finished the year on 717,940, the country’s eleventh biggest seller. In the United States it sold 258,100 in September 2009, fourth in that month’s NPD chart, and 656,700 by the end of December.

Nintendo’s own figure, as cited by Super Mario Wiki from the company’s sales data for the year to 31 March 2011, is 4.13 million worldwide. The 2020 CESA Games White Paper raises that to 4.56 million. Wikipedia and Super Mario Wiki both call it the best-selling Mario RPG; we have not checked that claim against every later Paper Mario and Mario RPG release, so treat it as theirs.

The 3DS remake was a different story. It sold fewer than 9,500 copies in its first week in Japan and dropped out of the top twenty the week after; Famitsu’s tracking put its lifetime Japanese total at 34,523.

• 4.56mworldwide (CESA, 2020)
• 4.13mworldwide by 31 March 2011 (Nintendo)
• 717,940Japan, 2009 (Famitsu)
• 656,700USA by end of 2009 (NPD)
• 90Metacritic, 58 reviews
• 34,5233DS remake, Japan lifetime

Reception and review scores

Metacritic’s average is 90 from 58 reviews, the highest in the series alongside Superstar Saga, and GameRankings closed on 91.01 per cent from 47. Scores below are as listed in Wikipedia’s and Super Mario Wiki’s reception tables.

The praise was close to unanimous. IGN’s Craig Harris, who had reviewed all three games, wrote “I have no problem classifying it as the best of the bunch”. Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan called it “absolutely a return to form”, and GameSpy’s Phil Theobald concluded that “there’s very little in Bowser’s Inside Story to not like.” Nintendo Power went furthest, calling it “the best RPG-style Mario adventure ever made”, while the UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine found it “the freshest, most vital RPG on the DS for ages”.

Wikipedia’s summary is that critics liked the gameplay, the story, the humour and, above all, Bowser as a leading man. On Metacritic only the Nintendo 64 Paper Mario ranks higher among Mario RPGs.

The 2018 remake scored 84 on Metacritic: 9/10 from Nintendo Life, Nintendo World Report and Cubed3, 8.5 from Game Informer and 8/10 from GameSpot and Destructoid. Nintendo Life’s Mitch Vogel called Bowser Jr.’s Journey “just an ‘okay’ addition”.

Honours

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story has yet to receive a community review on Super Luigi Bros.

If you’ve played Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story and would like to submit a review, please get in touch.

Every fact on this page was checked against the 44 sources listed here.